Singapore retail rents down 3.5% q-o-q in Q2 2020, vacancy rises to 9.6%: URA

RENTALS of retail space in Singapore's central region shrank 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 over the previous three months, after easing 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.

Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday also showed that prices of retail space in the central region fell 1.5 per cent in Q2 2020, although this was a smaller drop than the 3.1 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.

Islandwide, as at the end of the second quarter of 2020, there was a total supply of 364,000 square metres (sq m) gross floor area (GFA) of retail space from projects in the pipeline, slightly higher than the 358,000 sq m at the end of the previous quarter.

The amount of occupied retail space contracted by 93,000 sq m net lettable area (NLA) in Q2 2020, slightly more than double the 43,000 sq m drop in the previous quarter.

On the other hand, the stock of retail space rose 4,000 sq m NLA in Q2 2020, contrasting with the decrease of 15,000 sq m in the previous quarter. As a result, the islandwide vacancy rate of retail space rose to 9.6 per cent as at the end of Q2 2020, from 8 per cent as at the end of Q1 2020.